Hey, put down that overpriced latte ministry leader! Stop reading only those over-indulged metro-sexual hip emerging church gurus–get ready for the real emerging church generation: The Latinos!
Why do I say that?
Take a look at this data from the Pew Hispanic Center a research foundation. The data below is from the Pew Center (I tweaked the headings):
Latinos Account for Half of U.S. Population Growth Since 2000
Hispanics have accounted for more than half (50.5%) of the overall population growth in the United States in this decade, a significant new demographic milestone for the nation’s largest minority group.
A new Pew Hispanic Center report analyzes Latino growth and settlement patterns over the past three decades. Browse our interactive maps that provide details about the changing Latino population and our interactive databases that offer demographic information about Latinos in each of the nation’s 50 states and 3,141 counties.
Latinos are Changing Faiths: Latinos and the Transformation of American Religion
Hispanics are transforming the nation’s religious landscape, especially the Catholic Church, not only because of their growing numbers but also because they are practicing a distinctive form of Christianity.
Religious expressions associated with the pentecostal and charismatic movements are a key attribute of worship for Hispanics in all the major religious traditions — far more so than among non-Latinos. The growth of the Hispanic population is also leading to the emergence of Latino-oriented churches across the country.
Even More Powerful Latino Population Trends:
If current trends continue, the population of the United States will rise to 438 million in 2050, from 296 million in 2005, and 82% of the increase will be due to immigrants arriving from 2005 to 2050 and their U.S.-born descendants, according to new projections developed by the Pew Research Center.
Of the 117 million people added to the population during this period due to the effect of new immigration, 67 million will be the immigrants themselves and 50 million will be their U.S.-born children or grandchildren.
Among the other key population projections:
- Nearly one in five Americans (19%) will be an immigrant in 2050, compared with one in eight (12%) in 2005. By 2025, the immigrant, or foreign-born, share of the population will surpass the peak during the last great wave of immigration a century ago.
- The major role of immigration in national growth builds on the pattern of recent decades, during which immigrants and their U.S.-born children and grandchildren accounted for most population increase. Immigration’s importance increased as the average number of births to U.S.-born women dropped sharply before leveling off.
- The Latino population, already the nation’s largest minority group, will triple in size and will account for most of the nation’s population growth from 2005 through 2050. Hispanics will make up 29% of the U.S. population in 2050, compared with 14% in 2005.
- Births in the United States will play a growing role in Hispanic and Asian population growth; as a result, a smaller proportion of both groups will be foreign-born in 2050 than is the case now.
- The non-Hispanic white population will increase more slowly than other racial and ethnic groups; whites will become a minority (47%) by 2050.
- The nation’s elderly population will more than double in size from 2005 through 2050, as the baby-boom generation enters the traditional retirement years. The number of working-age Americans and children will grow more slowly than the elderly population, and will shrink as a share of the total population.
The Center’s projections are based on detailed assumptions about births, deaths and immigration levels—the three key components of population change.
6 Responses
November 1st, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Great stuff as usual Chris.
I love it, someone outside of the Latino community saying something about the stats.
Another study I read was that Latino’s are the biggest users of Mobile phones in North America.
Churches need to focus on Latino’s & start getting into mobile marketing quick.
I’d really love to see a follow up post with some ideas & strategies that you think that churches should start implementing.
Thanks
November 1st, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Thanks Alejandro!
I am spending more time on this topic and hope to have more ideas later. But, I would rather hear ideas from you. As a young Latino leader, what do you see in the way of openings for ministry that churches should be aware of?
A few observations from me…
We need a more missionary mindset in reaching out to Latinos. In my opinion, Evangelicals need to balance their out-of-balance fixation on reaching middle class young White families and learn to be more missional and facilitate indigenous Hispanic ministry.
A good way to start learning how to reach Latinos, would be to become more involved in helping areas of need in their community. Trust needs to be built and honest respect from present Anglo leaders is still forthcoming in many respects.
Get Over Xenophobia: The majority of church mission trips from the USA are made to Latin American countries, yet Evangelicals remain by default the single most organized anti-immigrant force with our conservative political stance.
We need to cultivate and demonstrate a genuine love for the Latinos in our communities. (I promise, in another 10-15 years the USA will be begging for more immigrants with the aging population reducing our productivity in the states. The US is building a wall on our border at the wrong time IMHO.)
The evangelical church has resources that could help and open doors for greater ministry in the Latino community.
Education Needs: Many Hispanics have not graduated from High school. Only 59% are High school grads. Only 12% of males and 20% of females have a college education. (The lowest of all the ethic groups.)
Poverty Needs: Are more pronounced among Latinos with 13% of married adults living in poverty and 38% of single parent homes at or below the US poverty level.
These two issues exacerbate other problems in parts of the Latino community (like crime and gangs)and helping meet needs of Latinos will benefit all communities.
Church Leadership: Room needs to be made for Hispanic leaders at the top levels of our denominational organizations. Latino Evangelical churches are growing rapidly and only token respect and resources are channeled their way.
A few thoughts…
November 2nd, 2008 at 9:12 am
Preach it, Chris. I’m impressed by and grateful for your analysis. This is not new news, but not many leaders in “your desirable demographic” have been open to recognizing this trend. Thanks for helping pull the ostrich’s head out.
November 2nd, 2008 at 11:50 am
Steve, thanks a lot for your comments here and on Facebook.
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:33 am
Thank you for getting this data out there. There is much ignorance concerning the Latin American Community here in the USA. Even though most Latins came to Christ through missionaries from the USA our churches ignore this and some times are the most reactionary against their being here. I know, for I work with a presbytery of my denomination (Presbyterian Church USA)that is trying to reach out to the Latin Americans and there are folks within the churches who react against this initiative as if we were breaking the law by sharing God’s love in Jesus Christ to our Latin American neighbors.
God bless you in your work!!
Grace and Peace,
Rev. Eddie Soto
Associate for Latin American Ministries
Charleston-Atlantic Presbytery
Presbyterian Church USA
2421 Ashley River Road
Charleston, South Carolina 29414-4601
Office: (843) 766-4219
Cellular: (843) 709-8095
Fax: (843) 766-2804
esoto@chas-atlpresbytery.org
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:38 am
Rev Soto,
Thanks for your comments. The ironies of this are everywhere. We can’t wait to love our neighbor when he’s across the border in a neighboring country and there’s a fun church trip involved–but if he’s our actual next-door neighbor…well…
-cbf
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